NHRA Rule Changes - Progress From Pain

Crash-and-burn images have evaded the pages of HOT ROD for the most part since its inception. Both HRM founder Robert Petersen and first editor Wally Parks made a point of telling staff members that sensationalist images did not do HOT ROD or racing any favors, and felt they only publicized the dark side of automotive pursuits. Since the magazine's mandate under NHRA founder Wally Parks was to promote the safe endeavors of the hot rod fraternity, depicting how racing could be unsafe didn't jibe. Drag racing was swathed in squeaky-clean wholesomeness without the slightest hint of anything but a clean script in the pages of HRM. That's why much of what is shown here has never been in print.

These scenes of racing mishaps are amazing when you consider that the drivers survived most of them. But safe racing begins with casualties; there is no better example of cause and effect. Racers and sanctioning bodies learn from every disaster, and measures are taken to ward off repeat incidents. Most forms of racing were going through rapid technology and information learning curves in the '50s and '60s, and the foundations of modern safety rules were born.

Clutch Explosions

As dragster engine and vehicle speeds increased throughout the '60s, race cars started to experience clutch explosions from heat buildup combined with extreme rpm. Since the '50s, clutch manufacturers had made clutches for drag racing with a dual-disc design--two discs separated by a steel floater plate. Schiefer's Velvatouch clutches were considered the best because they slipped the least. The theory was that the more tire spin upon launch, the better the run, so dragster racers wanted to transfer power to the tires as soon as possible. In about 1962, engine builder Keith Black felt otherwise. Part owner of the Greer-Black-Prudhomme dragster, he wanted a consistent means of slipping the clutch to slowly build up power transfer. He felt that less tire spin would translate to better traction, less wear on the driveline, and better times. But with a driver pedaling the clutch to achieve Black's goal, there was no consistency. So for the next several years, he and others experimented with their clutch combinations to eventually create the slipper clutch.

As the '60s wore on, catastrophic clutch explosions did not go away. One December night in 1967 at Orange County International Raceway, Mike Snively's dragster was "practically cut in half," according to Black. Snively was not injured. A few runs later, Mike Sorokin's clutch disintegrated, cutting Tony Waters' dragster in half and killing Sorokin. By the late '60s e.t.'s were 6.60 at 230 mph, spinning 10,000 rpm. At the '69 NHRA Nationals, John Mulligan died after a clutch explosion. At the '70 NHRA Nationals, Jim Nicoll also died from a clutch explosion. Eventually, a combination of centrifugal multiple-disc clutches, and steel, then titanium clutch cans curtailed most of the carnage. But once the clutch can contained the shrapnel, the energy and heat buildup pulled out bolt threads, causing engines to separate from the clutch cans upon exploding the clutch. The solution to this new problem, combined with the advent of ballistic blankets similar to those used on blowers, eliminated the issue.

Better Burning Behind (Than In Front)

Most dragsters in the '60s had direct drive with no transmissions. But with the rash of clutch explosions, one of the options racers weighed was changing gears to help reduce engine rpm.

When Don Garlits was told about the Lenco transmission in the spring of 1969, he ordered one. The unit, designed by Leonard Abbott, used manually activated planetary gearsets like those in automatic transmissions. Though Garlits became a believer and had some success with the transmission, breakage was a problem. He eventually created a beefed-up version of a Lenco trans he called Garlitsdrive--a two-speed transmission he marketed in late 1969. The key to marketing a race product was to use it and win. Garlits won the AHRA Grand American in January 1970, but a few weeks later, he broke his trans at the Gatornationals and was out. Racers were not convinced.

At the beginning of March, he had another Garlitsdrive at Lions, and had the lowest e.t. of the meet when he came to the line Sunday afternoon. Besides the case being heat-treated, the transmission was also wrapped in a nylon ballistic blanket, rendering itself bulletproof. But the transmission exploded at launch, cutting the dragster completely in half and putting Garlits in the hospital for six weeks with, among other injuries, a partially amputated foot. A spectator in the stands was also injured. Garlits was determined to find something better and spent his hospital time conceiving a rear-engine dragster design. He wasn’t the first; there were rear-engine dragsters almost since the beginning of drag racing. By December, Garlits debuted the new design that he, along with T.C. Lemons and Connie Swingle, had perfected. By the end of 1972 there were no front-engine dragsters. The success was so immediate and the plusses so strong that it created a sea change in drag racing the likes of which no one has seen since.

"SEMA Specs" and SFI

In 1963, the Speed Equipment Manufacturers Association (SEMA) was formed for the twofold purpose of functioning as a trade organization for speed equipment manufacturers and for developing test specifications used to certify components to meet safety guidelines or for their intended performance usage. As time progressed and criteria, testing, and implementation of the SEMA specs became not only the mark of approval but also a promotional tool, SEMA specs became part of the rules for most sanctioning bodies.

As SEMA progressed into more of a trade organization dealing with industry legislation, business marketing, and organizing the successful SEMA Show, it changed its name to Specialty Equipment Marketing Association, with SEMA Specs testing and procedures becoming part of the newly formed SEMA Service Bureau. As the amount and scope of products and testing increased, the SEMA Foundation, Inc. (SFI) was created from the core of the Service Bureau and is now the SFI Foundation Inc. SFI branched off from SEMA and is now completely independent of it, yet it is dependent on funding and participation from the racing and performance-components industries. The three main golas of the SFI spec program are:

01] To promote quality and reliability in the design, manufacture, and application of products of the specialty-parts industry.

02] To provide seller and purchasers information to facilitate purchasing and application decisions.

03] To provide officials of competition events with convenient and reliable references for evaluating products.